What is good about faith?

[goofball]

What is good about faith?

I was watching Boston Legal and the judge said something like "I'm concerned about faith being removed from our society."

It occurred to me, why? What's good about faith?


Also I"m talking about religious faith. I don't mean faith in the context of "I have faith in you" or "I have no faith in my wireless network." Two sentences which simply mean "I trust you" and "I can't rely on my wireless network"

[Phil153]

The belief in something greater than yourself can lead to joy and peace. The atheist always has to worry about death, about unfairness, about his own selfish interests.

By trusting in a higher power, we can find grace and love in our lives and leave much of the pettiness of the world behind.

[Nielsio]

The idea is that people become 'good' when they are fearful. The idea is that power can be used for the good. The idea is that if you beat your child hard enough, he will become an upstanding citizen.

It's really quite a lovely ideology.

[goofball]

Phil,

So faith in whatever good because it makes you feel good?

[CrayZee]

Maybe faith gives people hope, but at some cost.

Followers of faith and religion engage emotion.

The stuff you're ignoring are just "belief as a measure of subjective probability."

[Brad1970]

[ QUOTE ]
The idea is that people become 'good' when they are fearful. The idea is that power can be used for the good. The idea is that if you beat your child hard enough, he will become an upstanding citizen.

It's really quite a lovely ideology.

[/ QUOTE ]


It's called discipline. Something that today's society seems to have forgotten.

[VarlosZ]

Depends what you mean by faith. It comes into play more often than you may realize. You can't prove that "A is A," or "If P then Q; P, therefore Q." You basically take those things on faith so that you can use logic. You also take it on faith that your mother loves you, which is a lot more satisfying than calculating the probability that her statements of love are truthful and accurate. In short, faith is a valid epistemology.

If you're just referring to typical religious faith, however, then I might agree that it's pretty harmful in the long run.

[goofball]

Varlos,

[ QUOTE ]
Also, I'm talking about religious faith

[/ QUOTE ]

[Subfallen]

Phil and Nielsio are premising faith in very different kinds of gods. Phil's god offers unconditional love; Nielsio's god offers love, but love that---if unrequited---turns into unquenchable vengeance.

[CrayZee]

goofball,

I'd say religious faith is good for individuals otherwise unable to walk a generally straight societal line (for their own good as well as others). You know the typical joke of "people always seem to find Jesus in jail..." or an AA meeting.

I'm talking not of individuals that must steal to survive or whatever.

I'm pretty anti-religious but some people do better with it than others. Most atheists don't seem to acknowledge the positive aspects of faith, they do exist; life is not black and white. I can't see all people using the "science worldview," respecting life and fellow humans, etc. Science requires too much training, thought, and energy to really appreciate. So it may not be a good enough substitute for the general populous, unfortunately.

Like in poker, most people "can't rationally beat their own emotions" and self-analyze motivations...even pretty rational people. Just look at the "math types" that can't beat poker.